Tired of losing fully developed chicks

[dustponds10]

Well, like the title says I am clucking tired of losing fully developed chicks that for some reason dont hatch and just die in the egg. I have 1 hova-bator and I have had nothing but bad luck. I have hatched 1 chick out from 2 dozen eggs and the but kicker is most the other eggs were developed all the way just didnt hatch. What could I be doing wrong to get them to develope but not hatch? I would love some help for sure. What I am doing is trying to maintain the temp. around 99.5 to 100.5 and keeping the humidity around 40-45. I have to tinker with the incubator to keep it where it needs to be most days if the weather changes and all but It stays pretty close to these temps. i am using a brinsea spot checker that is right on the money and 4 different humidity devices that all read with in one point of the other. I have them in an automatic turner and then on day 19 I lock them down, actually I just dont open the incubator for 3 days while they and the other eggs are in there incubating. the humidity stays pretty much the same during lock down which might be bad I just really dont know. the 2 chicks that did hatch were both forgotten in the turners and they hatched right out of the turners(I have space between the racks because I dont incubate alot of eggs all at the same time. I have layed some eggs down and kept some in the turners and all have the same problem, they seem to be fairly large chicks but I only have had one to really tell by. Please help. Thanks Dustin

 

[BirdBrain]

Dustin, I am so sorry You are having so much trouble. Without knowing more, my first guess would be innadequate ventilation and/or too low humidity. Try for 65% humidity during those last 3 days. You might find something helpful in this article http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/aa204

 

[teresa-78]

Sorry I dont know alot, but it seems to be the humidity is to low on on lockdown.... hope this helps like birdbrain said.... fingers crossed for your future hatches

 

[incubatingisfun]

i had the same exact problem with my hova bator i did 3 and a half dozen eggs in 4 attemts and 2 chicks.thats why i bought a brinsea mini advance never had trouble hathcing after that.its just the incubator sorry but hova bators just arent good

 

[halo]

I had more luck with my Hova when I dropped the humidity. My very best hatch was when I mis-counted days, and they all hatched without me doing a single thing, including adding any water. I just found them the next day making a racket in the Hova.

It also could be the chicks are too big to hatch, which would also mean the humidity is too high, and the eggs don't lose enough moisture. If you're outdoor humidity has been high, that might be an issue, too.

 

[Mahonri]

Once I started doing the dry hatch method in my hovabator, I started hatching more chicks.

 

[ColbyNTX]

High heat and high humidity is a killer for a hatch. If you are going to 100.5 during a hatch with high humidity, that can kill chicks. What if your thermometer is off .5-1 deg, so now its 101-101.5, that will do it! Dropping your temp down 1 deg during lockdown and not opening the door until you think all have hatched might help.

 

[dustponds10]

Ok guys I really appreciate the help. I will try it I get eggs pretty often so I am going to give this a try and go from there. I will drop the temp and see what happens. The humidity between the 3 different devices I think is pretty reliable. I will check it out and go from there. I am going to set up a seperate incubator for the eggs that are about to hatch and try that with lower temp and a bit higher humidity. THanks all. Cant wait til I can buy my GQF sportsman.

 

[Andy J]

I have a Hovabator model 1602,been using it for years.I just followed the directions that came with it.I use an automatic turner,also.If you notice,around day 12-15,the temperature begins to climb due to the heat produced by the developing chicks.Adjust the temperature as needed.On day 17 I take the turner out,fill the 2nd water chamber,put the top back on,and LEAVE IT ALONE.

I think people screw around with the incubator too much.The hen just sits there until the eggs hatch.The same with the incubator.

I have found,however,that eggs laid in the hottest part of summer don't hatch as well as spring eggs.Eggs from old hens don't hatch as well,either.These are just my observations.Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

Andy J

 

[caral07]

Your humidity needs to be 50 to 55 from day 1-18. Then increase it to 70-75 from day18-21.Also your turner may not work right. I had the same problem earlyer this summer and they all developed but died. I tryed again turning my eggs by hand this time and a perfect hatch! In fact they all hatched today and yesterday! Good Luck!